Show Notes
Art Cast Series 4 Episode 5: Juno Calypso
Art Cast is a podcast series of informal discussions with professional artists and designers, presented by Matt Gee, Programme Area Manager of Fine Art, joined by students from Morley College London - Chelsea Centre. For this episode, Matt is joined by Juno Calypso. Juno Calypso is a British photographer known for her distinctive self-portraits, her work is a powerful exploration of feminism, isolation, loneliness, and self-sufficiency. In addition to her personal work, Calypso also makes her mark as a commercial photographer. In 2016, she was a joint winner of the British Journal of Photography International Photography Award. Two years later, she received the prestigious Vic Odden Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Working solo, Calypso has crafted highly stylized photographs of herself while adopting the persona of "Joyce," a fictional alter-ego. These self-portraits take place in surreal storytelling settings. Her self-portraits as "Joyce" are the cornerstone of her work, portraying a "bored, frustrated, lonely housewife of her imagination." These images transport us to unfamiliar and over-the-top landscapes, providing a commentary on the restrictive aspects of femininity and societal expectations. Calypso's work explores the rituals of seduction and the pursuit of a "perfect vision of oneself." One of her noteworthy series, "The Honeymoon," features her alone in American couples-only honeymoon resorts. This collection exudes a sense of claustrophobia, blending frustration with loneliness, as noted by critics. Calypso has aptly commented on her own work, highlighting her intention to critique the construction of femininity. She once said, "I used to take pictures of Joyce as a way of making a critique on the laboured construction of femininity, but now I’m starting to see that the problem isn’t the make-up and bizarre body improvement devices, but the way society treats women who invest so deeply in their appearance." You can check out her work at the Welcome Collection in the Cult of beauty exhibition on to 28th April, 2024.
More from Art Cast
Art Cast Series 6 Episode 3: Babak Ganjei Art Cast is a podcast series of informal discussions with professional artists and designers, presented by Matt Gee, Deputy Head of Art, joined by students from Morley College London - Chelsea Centre. This Episode is led by Imane Bouziane and we are also joined by BA Fine Art peer Hamish Cowan. Today we are joined by Babak Ganjei, an artist, writer and musician who turns everyday thoughts, jokes and anxieties into the artwork itself. Among his most notable achievements are publishing two acclaimed books with Rough Trade Books, including Art Is The Thing Nobody Asked You To Do, as well as creating short films for Channel 4 and appearing in multiple BBC Radio 4 programmes with his son Arthur. He gave a talk on the 18th of March to students from a variety of courses about his work, in Morley waterloo. He studied at Central Saint Martins, but his work moves away from that kind of traditional polish and instead leans into something more immediate and diaristic. He’s exhibited in London galleries like Transition Gallery and The Sunday Painter while also showing in more informal spaces like Doomed Gallery. Across text based paintings, drawings, comics, and books, his works read like fragments of an inner monologue, funny, self-aware and sometimes uncomfortable, sitting somewhere between stand-up, notes app entries and conceptual art while quietly questioning what art is supposed to be and who it’s really for.